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There are currently 37 member reviews
for Morningside Heights
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Beth B. (New Wilmington, PA)
Remniscences in Morningside Heights
Do not miss reading this novel! Its colorful cast of characters impart wisdom that is insightful and unforgettable. Issues span a wide range of topics from family interaction to education to illness and its effects on this family to caregivers and forever friends. The author, Joshua Henkin, addresses how we appear and disappear, fading in and out of vitality and purpose. It would be difficult to name a favorite character; all are rich in their own right. How rare to discover such texture and perspective in a novel! I look forward to reading it again immediately, this time making journal entries of favorite sections.
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Gail K. (Saratoga Springs, NY)
Morningside Heights, a Love Story
Although it sounds like a cliché, Morningside Heights is a love story. It is the love story of a husband and a wife, parents and children, even caregivers and the person needing care. These relationships are at times difficult, tender, poignant and sometimes humorous. In spite of the fact that there is tragedy at the core of this novel, Henkin's handling of it is authentic without being maudlin. I finished this book with a sigh, knowing these characters will remain with me well beyond the last page. Now I look forward to reading Henkin's earlier work.
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Betsy R. (Gig Harbor, WA)
Morningside Heights
This novel dealt with several contemporary issues interwoven in the story of Pru, a young Midwesterner in New York, and Spence, her famous older professor husband. Spence begins showing confusion and forgetfulness and is diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Another theme is woven around Arlo, Spences son from another mother. The book does explore issues of parenting, caretaking, guilt, and hope. I liked it.
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Sylvia T. (Rancho Mirage, CA)
An Emotional Roller Coaster
The story of Pru and Spence starts with a young girl falling in love with her teacher, a brilliant professor. They marry and embark on a relatively typical life together with Pru in the role of supportive partner and Spence continuing his role as the creative, successful teacher whose students clamor to take his classes. Over the course of the marriage, Spence develops Alzheimer's and Pru's role changes to be his caretaker as the disease becomes more and more debilitating.. The story of Pru and Spence evolves into Pru's story as she cares for and works to help Spence through difficult days, engages with their daughter and Spence's son from a previous marriage, and navigates through an opportunity for a new relationship. This book shows you just how much one person having Alzheimer's truly affects everyone.
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Danielle M. (East Greenwich, RI)
A Different Type of Love Story
This is a wonderful but bittersweet story about marriage, about parents and children and about dealing with loss. The writing is so intimate and touching - you feel like part of the family. I love multigenerational stories and this one that will truly touch your heart.
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Gerry P. (Malverne, NY)
Morningside Heights
Enjoyed the book, felt it was well written, kept your interest.
Found it very interesting the different and changing relationships in the books, many twists.
Amazing to see how tragedy effects each of us differently. Very moving and could relate to it.
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Laurie S. (Lakeville, MN)
Morningside Heights: The Joys and Sorrows of Marriage
Readers of Morningside Heights will find a fascinating view into the marriage at the center of this novel. At first, I felt the strangeness of new love with its unusual comparisons, like "two halves of a clam," and the initial clumsiness of young lovers. But then, I got caught up in Spence and Pru's new life together. From awkwardness to routine and finally to decline, this story of husband, wife, exes, lovers, and children shares the wisdom found in the joys and sorrows of human connection at its deepest levels. Although the individual characters themselves are not fully fleshed out, the marriage at the center of the novel is unforgettable in its twists and turns of beauty.
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